1984
India's President Probed For Possible Involvement in 1984 Massacre of Sikhs in Jalgaon
SIKHS FOR JUSTICE
Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) a Human Rights NGO, working to unravel the true facts about the November 1984 Sikh Genocide, has raised questions and concerns regarding the personal role of Pratibha Patil, the current President of India, in the pogroms.
Several hundred Sikhs were killed in Jalgaon District of Maharashtra in November 1984 while Pratibha Patil was Congress (I) MLA and Cabinet Minister in the Maharashtra Government.
As per Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Legal Advisor, SFJ, in the State of Maharashtra, India, it was only Jalgaon and the surrounding areas where hundreds of Sikhs were killed in November 1984 while Pratibha Patil was the local Congress (I) MLA, as per more than 70 affidavits submitted by surviving family members of the victims to Justice Nanavati Commission.
In addition to President Patil's mentor-protégé relationship with Indira Gandhi, stated attorney Pannun, the fact that in November 1984 President Patil was Congress (I) MLA from Jalgaon area and a Cabinet Minister in Maharashtra raises serious questions and concerns about her possible involvement in the killing of Sikhs in her constituency, given the fact that Sikhs were not killed in the rest of Maharashtra in November 1984.
According to Attorney Gurpatwant Singh, as per the findings of Justice Nanavati Commission, it is a matter of record that it was the Congress leadership which organized the massacres. It is evident from the cases of H.K.L. Bhagat, Dharamdas Shastri, Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and Kamal Nath that Congress MPs and MLAs were actively involved in organizing attacks on Sikhs in their respective constituencies during November 1984.
President Patil, who heads what is purported to be the largest democracy of the world, must come clean with details regarding the killing of Sikhs in her area of influence during November 1984, and her involvement, before, during or after the events.
To trace the possible involvement of President Patil and her party associates, Gurpatwant Singh has filed a petition under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to obtain the exact number of Sikhs killed in Jalgaon area, and the FIRs lodged with names of the accused during November 1984.
December 1, 2011